Differentiated staffing is an interesting concept. There were some interesting articles online that showed some of the impact of the program from the 1960’s. Financial instability would make the process more difficult today, but it is also worth taking a closer look at how it could positively impact a campus. Most teachers are “pleasers” by nature. Some have goals to obtain a department head position or a position as a strategist or maybe even an administrator. Other teachers are fine with where they are. The tiered level of differentiated staffing I think could be a win, win situation. You could even have a different salary scale structured around the position that a teacher occupied. More demanding positions would make a higher salary and less demanding positions would make a lower teaching salary. The concept of a “master” teacher would be a huge plus. Most secondary campuses have a Dean of Instruction who serves a similar role to a master teacher, but they have many more duties as well. The master teacher would be the go to person for teachers. They would be the curriculum expert as well as the person delivering staff development opportunities that would be specific to that campus. This master teacher would also serve as a mentor for their department. One issue on many campuses is the job description of an instructional aide. Many times it is not specific enough or clearly defined. Training these aides to take role, grade papers, and make copies would allow classroom teachers more time to focus on lesson planning, instructional delivery, and working on data. Teachers would feel less beat down by the demands of the day to day operations of the classroom and more time and energy could be put into student learning. Financial restrictions would play a role in staffing, but the district being creative with positions could generate new found success in the classroom.
Most teachers are “pleasers” by nature. Some have goals to obtain a department head position or a position as a strategist or maybe even an administrator. Other teachers are fine with where they are. The tiered level of differentiated staffing I think could be a win, win situation. You could even have a different salary scale structured around the position that a teacher occupied. More demanding positions would make a higher salary and less demanding positions would make a lower teaching salary. The concept of a “master” teacher would be a huge plus. Most secondary campuses have a Dean of Instruction who serves a similar role to a master teacher, but they have many more duties as well. The master teacher would be the go to person for teachers. They would be the curriculum expert as well as the person delivering staff development opportunities that would be specific to that campus. This master teacher would also serve as a mentor for their department. One issue on many campuses is the job description of an instructional aide. Many times it is not specific enough or clearly defined. Training these aides to take role, grade papers, and make copies would allow classroom teachers more time to focus on lesson planning, instructional delivery, and working on data. Teachers would feel less beat down by the demands of the day to day operations of the classroom and more time and energy could be put into student learning. Financial restrictions would play a role in staffing, but the district being creative with positions could generate new found success in the classroom.